How Antarctica Is Protected
Antarctica and all of its emperor penguins, leopard seals, blue whales, and towering mountains have been set aside for protection under international agreements. This pristine ecosystem has been protected from mining and oil drilling since 1998 and will stay protected for at least 50 years. Conservation is the foremost concern regarding policy in Antarctica. It prohibits a vast range of threats to wildlife, including pesticides and dogs. As a person looking for antarctica travel adventures you should visit that site.
The continent is protected through the Environmental Protection Protocol to the Antarctica Treaty. This agreement has been set by the nations of the world to keep Antarctica free of commercialism and industrial development. The leading 26 nations that had scientific interest in the area approved the treaty in 1991. These nations include the United States, Russia, India, China, Brazil, Argentina, Japan and most nations in Europe.
A decade and a half of intense environmental lobbying led to this unprecedented treaty that is meant to regulate actions taken in the continent. In addition to preventing all oil drilling and mining, the 35 scientific outposts on Antarctica are required to remove all garbage and clean up all dumps. Moreover, cruise ships and scientific outposts cannot drain their sewers into the seas of Antarctica.
Explorers from the likes of Norwegian Roald Amundsen, who was the first man to reach the South Pole in 1911, had to rely on sled dogs for their transportation. However, this recent treaty has placed a ban on dogs, based on their tendency to kill native birds and penguins. Also banned from being brought into Antarctica are pesticides, polystyrene packaging and non-sterile soil. Go to this site for further information on adventure antarctica tours.
This harsh land is trapped beneath mile-thick ice and cannot support much botanical life aside from grasses and mosses that survive near the shore. The ice on the continent accounts for 70% of the Earth’s fresh water. In the waters that surround the continent, seals, fish, aquatic birds, and whales thrive.
While it’s one of the coldest places on this earth, it is also the most fragile. With its air temperature continuously below zero, any growth is extremely slow. Any disturbance of the environment can take years to recover from. Footprints, for example, can take as much as 10 years to disappear.
The original Antarctic Treaty, signed in 1959 placed a ban on all nuclear testing and military activity in and around the continent. Rules for research were established and Antarctica was declared to be owned by no nation. While no country may possess Antarctica, literally every square inch of the land is claimed by some country or the other.
Conservation laws were put into place in the 1980s when researchers found oil reserves offshore and deposits of coal, gold, iron, copper, zinc, uranium, manganese and other minerals. In the midst of the energy crisis of the 1970s, the feasibility of drilling for oil in Antarctica was considered. Increases in the price of oil and advances in technology will intensify these interests.
Each of the 26 nations that uphold the treaty have their own jurisdictions. This is kept in check by the other nations in the treaty applying pressure to the government to punish any transgression. This agreement is viewed by many to be a victory for the environment.
